The Goodbye Girl by Angela Verdenius Read Free Book Online Page B

his gaze on the shop door.  Within minutes he was rewarded by the door swinging open and his mystery woman stepping out.  As he watched, she ti lted her head back and took a deep breath, a smile wreathing her red lips.
    Hmmmm .  She was wearing lipstick.  She had pretty pink lips anyway, didn’t really need lipstick, but he had to admit he wouldn’t mind licking it off if it was that flavoured gloss stuff women sometimes used.
    Lick it off?   Now where had that come from?
    Nick’s gaze wandered over her.  No slender nymph, this one.  Generously proportioned, but in such a way it more than had his approval.  A voluptuous hourglass figure was the only way to describe her, all big bosom and lush hips in a loose, pale blue top that was cinched at her waist with a narrow belt, and a firmly rounded derriere in black slacks that begged to be grabbed and squeezed.  He just bet it was a soft handful.
    His fingers actually flexed.
    That bosom, well, it was a man’s wet dream.  He liked that she didn’t try to hide her figure, enhancing the best parts with colour and flair as though thumbing her nose at convention.  Yeah, he liked that.
    He bet she was a soft armful, too.  Warm and soft and sweet and funny.
    From where he stood, a mere two shop doors down, he could see her face clearly.  Sunny smile, big eyes, cheekily tilted nose, and dark hair pulled up in some arty-farty top knot that had tendrils dancing around her face in the breeze.
    He itched to take that top knot apart, to see if the thick hair was as silky as it looked.
    Hmmmm .  Maybe he should think about asking her out, though a woman like her probably had a husband or boyfriend already.  Any red-blooded man would be an idiot to let this lush piece of womanhood pass him by.
    His gaze dropped to her hands where they rested on her hips.  No wedding or engagement ring that he could see, though maybe she took it off for work. Or maybe it was a friendship ring, didn’t women wear them on another finger?  She wore several rings.
    He rubbed his chin.
    Turning, the woman spotted him and smiled widely.  “Hey there.”
    Nick smiled back.  “Hey there yourself.”
    “See you didn’t catch a cold after all.”
    “Can’t catch a cold from rain,” he reminded her.
    “Ah.  Well, maybe that was karma.”
    Drawn to her, Nick started forward, only to be waylaid when an older woman with a blue rinse in her curly hair hurried over from the car she’d just parked.
    Grabbing his mystery woman’s arm, the blue- rinse lady asked breathlessly, “Did you go out last night?”
    “Yep,” his mystery woman replied.
    “Did you see any lights?”
    “ Farmhouse.”
    “No, other lights.”
    Interesting .  Nick couldn’t help but stop and listen.
    “Afraid not.”
    “But you did go out and watch for the UFOs, didn’t you?”
    Nick blinked.  Whaaa…?
    “I certainly did,” his mystery woman answered, completely unruffled.
    The blue-rinse looked suitably impressed.  “You weren’t scared?”
    “Fear, Charlotte, has to be controlled.  I bought snacks, parked near the field, and watched for UFOs of which I saw none.  Nadda.  Zip.”
    “Oh.” Charlotte visibly wilted.
    “However…”
    Charlotte’s eyes lit up.
    “However, ” his mystery woman repeated, “something hit my door while I was out there.”
    Side-swiped?  Nick’s mouth tightened.  Damn it, he’d warned her it was dangerous to go out in the storm.
    “I was parked near the field, the radio started acting up, and then something hit my door hard.”  Hands still on hips, his mystery woman nodded.  “Something was out there, Charlotte, I just don’t know what yet.”
    Charlotte clasped her hands together.  “We have to have coffee, discuss our experiences.  Come, let’s-”
    “Can’t, I’m working.  Sorry. Another time, maybe.”
    “Are you going out again?”
    Nick waited to hear the reply.
    “Yep.”
    “To hunt the UFO?”
    “ Charlotte, I am so out there.”
    She